The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (32)

[JoshuaGostick]

I'm getting the error: The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (32) when trying to output to a file in Alteryx Designer even when the file is not being used by any user or process. Alteryx appears to think that the file is locked despite being able to open the file using a text editor, editing the file and saving it without any issues (all whilst Alteryx Designer is still open).

This error has not only occured when running an Output tool, but also when trying to save and replace a csv file directly from a Browse tool. 

I have also encountered this issue with .yxdb, .csv and .xlsx files.

Re-running the workflow does not fix this error and will keep resulting in the same error message even when output is a yxdb file. The only way around this so far has been to delete the output file and creating a new one.

Finally, I have used the Block Until Done tool but unfortunately this has not solved the issue.

Has anyone else encountered a similar issue to this and have any insights on how to fix this?

Thanks,
Josh

[PeteLacz]

I'm getting the same issue in Version 2022.1.1. I did not have this issue in the 2021 version. The output file tools are stepping on each other when saving to another tab on the same file. Block until Done used to solve this in 2021. 

[PanPP]

@PeteLacz 

Do you have AMP Engine enabled or disabled?

Can you try to disable it or enable it depending on what setting is configured?

You may want to create a new workflow also and then re-configure the bock until done tools / output tools.

Hope this helps.

[jeneir]

Turning off AMP engine does not work.

Alteryx can't overwrite a csv file, so sad.

[MohamedFadel]

Thanks, It works fine with me!

[riyadh_jose]

If you are using version 2022.1 and new versions, AMP Engine is always in default. If you hope to create files with Block Until Done tool, set AMP Engine as not default. AMP Engine uses multi-threading so it tends to create files AT THE SAME TIME which cause the error "being used by..." 

Steps:

• Check Runtime in Workflow Configuration and it must be UNCHECKED
• Go to Options Menu>>User Settings>>Edit User Settings>>UNCHECKED AMP Engine as default

Hope this helps. Thank you

[Engeldinger]

I ran into the same issue reading an Excel file.  The fix ended up being reading the template file as 'Microsoft Excel 1997-2003 (*.xls)," despite the file extension being *.xlsx.  Possibly due to an older Excel file being converted to XLSX.

[gacosta]

Thank you Tyler_Rooks, this solved the issue without having to change anything else

[haphan_tran]

I took a deep dive in this issue in this post, you make take a look to see if it solve your case
Writing to multiple Excel Sheets in the same files... - Alteryx Community

[Rayyl]

Thanks! For me that was the solution. :)

[avanibhatnagar]

@Tyler_Rooks  YOU SAVED MY LIFE. The Amp engine was checked for a while with no issues, but suddenly started acting up and now the output works with it unchecked. THANK YOU!